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Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Is 40:8 Dear Brother Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, Esteemed members of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees, and Christ-loving Faithful, Blessing and greetings to you in the Name of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus! With profound sadness, yet hope in the Resurrection, I announce the passing into eternal life of my beloved brother, Bishop ANTOUN. Words cannot begin to describe our debt of gratitude to His Grace nor our sense of loss at his falling asleep. As our…

Source: The National Herald By Theodoros Kalmoukos BOSTON,MA – The annual amounts New England parishes are obligated to give to the Archdiocese are really revealing and interesting. They are required to give 15% of their annual expenses to the Archdiocese, as it was decided abruptly without any information or advance notice to the Parishes in 2006 at the Clergy-Laity Congress in Nashville, TN. That formula was changed from 15% of income because the Church officials believed that many parishes were not reporting all their annual income or keeping double sets of records in order to avoid disclosing how much money…

Pope Benedict XVI (L), flanked by Metropolite Hilarion Alfeyev (C), welcomes Italian actress Sophia Loren (R) at the end of the concert offered by Russian Patriarch Kirill I in the Paolo VI hall at the Vatican on May 20, 2010, to mark the russian day of culture and spirituality. AFP PHOTO/ VINCENZO PINTO (Photo credit should read VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

Source: Catholic Herald by Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith Catholics would agree with much of what Metropolitan Hilarion has said, but what can we actually do? Metropolitan Hilarion, who is the ‘foreign minister’ of the Russian Orthodox Church, has recently been in London, where he gave a speech at a conference organised by the Russian Embassy. The Russian Embassy website reproduces the speech in toto here. The Russian Orthodox Church website gives a list of participants at the symposium, which was focused on the Christian Future of Europe. The speech given by Hilarion was certainly interesting, and revelatory of the thought of the Russian Church. He…

Source: Public Orthodoxy by Richard Barrett Who gets to decide what it means to be Orthodox in America? Greeks? Russians? Converts? Foreign bishops? How do “cradle” and convert identities come together – or not? How do “diaspora” narratives that tie Orthodoxy to nationalism translate in an American context? What does Orthodoxy mean in the American religious marketplace of ideas? Is it really the fastest growing religious group in America, as some have claimed, or is it a solution looking for a problem? Perhaps the most important–and difficult–question is, “Will there ever be an American Orthodoxy?” Many Orthodox in America, of course,…

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA This report represents a large amount of work under the coordination and authorship of the Assembly of Bishops’ Research Coordinator, Alexei Krindatch. It is in response to the Assembly VII decision to endorse a US nationwide study on the present state of inter-Orthodox parish-to-parish cooperation on the local level. The analysis of replies to a nationwide clergy survey identified 54 cities and geographic areas with a high level of inter-Orthodox communication and cooperation. Of these, the study identified 21 cities and geographic areas in the US where well organized and active…

Source: Oinos Educational Consulting (Part 2 of “Creating a Legacy”) by Frank Marangos, D.Min., ED.D. “Put your house in order, because you are going to die.” 2 Kings 20:1; Isaiah 38:1 Benjamin Franklin once said, “death takes no bribes.” In other words, when faced with imminent demise, all the money in the world is unable to buy the victim one more hour. That is . . . unless your name is Hezekiah, who apart from being one of the Old Testament kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, is best known for requesting that God heal his incurable disease…

Source: OCA Diocese of the Midwest CHICAGO, IL [125 Orthodox Chicago Committee] — Proclaiming 2017 as the “125th Year of Orthodox Christianity in Greater Chicago,” the region’s ruling bishops have endorsed a historic celebration to take place on Saturday, September 30, 2017. Sponsored by the Orthodox Christian Clergy Association [OCCA] of Greater Chicago, the commemoration will include the celebration of a Pan-Orthodox Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Lane Tech Auditorium, 2501 West Addison at Western, Chicago, followed by an anniversary banquet at the Chicago Marriott O’Hare, 8535 West Higgins Road, Chicago. Chairing the event is Archpriest Nicholas Dahdal, Rector of Saint George…

Source: Religion Dispatches BY KATHERINE KELAIDIS When I first wrote about the growing popularity of Eastern Orthodox Christianity among those on the far-right for Religion Dispatches in November of last year, I was regularly told that Matthew Heimbach’s excommunication from the Orthodox Church was the end of the problem. They told me that in making connections between the so-called alt-right and Orthodoxy I was overreacting. But last week, there was Heimbach, at the center of those organizing the “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville—and marching, as Inga Leonova writes at Fordham’s Public Orthodoxy, while “waving ‘Orthodoxy or Death’ banners.” The events of the past week…

Source: Ancient Faith Ministries Paul Ladouceur Editor’s Note: The following is a review of The Departure of the Soul According to the Teaching of the Orthodox Church, published April 2017 by St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery, Florence, Arizona. It was sent to us by Dr. Paul Ladouceur originally as four separate posts, but we have combined them here into one, since they are closely related and also since our readers are not unaccustomed to longer pieces here. The Departure of the Soul The Orthodox tradition contains several strands of thinking on the afterlife, based primarily on indications in Scripture, especially Jesus’…